Protecting Her
by Chick Flicks- Rock 'N' Roll
Summary: Will Ron finally explain his feelings to hermione, or will they just stay friends. Can you still stick up for those who don't love you the way you love them? What if protecting them reveals the truth? I suck at summaries! R&R!
1. Sleepy Confessions

"Hermione…wait!" Ron tried to scream as he gently took her arm, but it only came out in a stuttered whisper.

"What Ronald! I came to you when I was upset and get nothing. You just stare at me like I'm some kind of…some…monster! I'm not that hideous am I? But I must be, that seems to be the consensus tonight!" Hermione half yelled and half sobbed. And with the last word she fell into Ron, crying into his broad chest. Ron knew that he had to be here for her, not for the feeling of her with him, but to comfort his best mate in her time of need. She just held onto his shirt with her small delicate fists, squeezing him with every ounce of energy she had.

Ron walked himself over to the couch, Hermione still in his arms, and he sat down on the maroon sofa. He slipped one of his arms around her knees and pulled her into his lap and rocked her like a small child, hushing her tears. Hermione's wild hair was clinging to her tear stained face and after several minutes, Ron took his hands and pulled every curl off individually, savoring the moment he had to be her knight in shining armor.

"Ron, why? Why me? Why was I so…..so….stu-stupid?" Hermione tried to get the words out without tears, very unsuccessfully.

"Hermione, we all make crazy mistakes. But it's ok. I'm here, you can talk to me or not, but I will always be here for you." Ron said, hoping after he said it that he wasn't too obvious about the fact that he was madly in love with the girl in his arms. But he was reassured that he had said the right thing when he got a smile from Hermione, weak, but still a smile.

And the night continued with Ron rocking the small, vulnerable Hermione in his strong arms. Her sobs had quieted but silent tears were still pouring from her caramel eyes. Ron shifted him self to be sitting with his back on the armrest, cradling Hermione on his chest, still moving her back and forth, just making sure she was ok. He never thought to close his eyes or blink, but when he saw that Hermione's tears had stopped and her eyes were closed, he quietly yawned to himself. His chest quickly quivered when he felt a small cold feeling in his body. Hermione stirred, but still held onto him as if dear life depended on it. But he saw that she was actually asleep. And with that he whispered into her ear covered with curls

"I love you Hermione. You're not a monster, you're perfect. I want to protect you from everything, but you won't let me. I never want to let you go again. I love you and I always have Hermione"

He pulled his head back to the armrest and closed his eyes. He was glad to feel her steady breath and heartbeat in unison with his, both their chests rising and falling together. As he slowly drifted into his sleep, he felt something move, but didn't care to check, it had to be his imagination. Everyone was still at the dance.

He felt a breeze on his ear, but didn't think that was important either. "I love you too" whispered a small voice, and Ron finally opened his eyes to see Hermione's head cradled in the crook of his neck. He smiled to himself. She was now hugging him more than grasping him, and he moved his hand up to her shoulder, stroking her arm, and the other around her waist, keeping her close to him. Both the seventh year Gryffindors fell asleep a bit happier than they thought they would have.


	2. The Night of the Dance

**Disclaimer:** I DON"T OWN HP! If I did , wouldn't I be writing this into the seventh book, not a website!

This Chapter is what happened before the scene in the previous chapter. Like a prologue.

**At The Beginning of Term Dance**

Sure, you could say the students were happy to have such a festive event only three weeks into school, but they all knew it was part of some ploy to make them forget about the recent events. Dumbledore had died, the school's hero, Harry, was often nowhere to be found, and nearly a third of the students were no longer attending.

Ron hadn't been too happy since the school year started. Actually he hadn't sincerely smiled since the day of Dumbledore's funeral (not that it was a happy day), but he had held and comforted Hermione. It made him feel like somebody for once, not just a sidekick, but the moment soon faded away. Harry had to spend the summer at the Dursely's, and Hermione wanted to spend one last summer with her parents, so Ron's summer had been empty as well.

He felt that he would be happy once he got back to Hogwarts, seeing his friends again, and not having the burden of his mother torturing him about the whereabouts of Harry. But how wrong Ron was. Harry owled him the morning he was boarding the Hogwarts Express, of course only with bad news. Harry would only be attending school one week out of every month. Ron learned to deal with that. But what really hit home was when Ron saw Hermione and Seamus walking down to his compartment together, holding hands.

Ron's heart started to beat incredibly fast, and then it felt like the whole world stopped. His friend, Seamus, they had been friends for 6 years and he knew how much Ron liked Hermione, but he had to go and date her. Ron felt betrayed and lonely. He had lost both of his best mates.

Of course Hermione tried to cheer Ron up and told him that they would still be as close as ever, but that was just an illusion. Ron saw less and less of Hermione, and Dean. He was in his bed a lot, the room was quiet without the boys. Dean was usually off in the library while Neville was with Luna God only knows where. So Ron sat, and thought. He had no date to the upcoming dance and didn't plan on even going. That was until he overheard Seamus talking with a certain blonde Slytherin the morning of the dance.

"So, it seems you have that little mudblood with you everywhere you go? Are your intentions still as they were when all of this started?" Malfoy sneered at Seamus, but with a slight smirk on his face.

"Of course they are. I'm only with her to follow your orders. Once I have carried those out it will all be over as quickly as it started." Seamus said, a serious tone in his voice that Ron had never heard before.

"Good. I need to get all of the stress out. Pansy has been driving m e absolutely mad. Once this is through she'll never disrespect me again. Little tramp needs to learn who her superiors are!" Malfoy said with a snicker, and walked away to return to his seat next to Crabbe and Goyle.

Ron was stunned that Seamus would stoop so low. Hermione had helped him so much over the years, and he treats her like this. What does he owe Malfoy? Ron was scared for her and he knew he had to go to that dance.

Around 7:45 that evening Ron was sitting on the couch in the common room, just staring angrily into the fire. He was waiting for Hermione and Seamus to leave, then he could follow them. He was only in khaki pants and a white button up collared shirt, but he did look somewhat dashing. His long red hair was hanging around his collarbone and freckles were scattered all over his face from the summer sun, but he was not looking too happy. He knew he had to help Hermione, but also knew that she would have never believed him if he told her what he heard. She just would have called him jealous and selfish, which he was occasionally. As he sat and rethought his plans, which he didn't really have, he heard footsteps from the girl's dormitories.

"Hermione, might I say that you look amazing!" Seamus said all to smoothly. Ron felt awful knowing Seamus had been lying to her all this time.

"And you don't look too bad yourself Seamus. I've never seen you in dress clothes, they suit you well." She said as she stepped into his welcoming arms for a hug. Hermione looked simple, yet beautiful. She had a forest green dress that came up mid thigh and just showed enough to be tempting. The dress was held on by spaghetti straps and her hair, well that was a whole new look. It was straightened and then wrapped in a tight bun with lazy curls falling out of it. Ron thought she was amazing.

After Seamus was done hugging her, they walked out the portrait hole and began walking towards the great hall. Ron counted to fifteen and then followed suit.

Sure, the hall looked beautiful with its green earthy decorations, but Ron had other things in mind. He watched Seamus like a hawk, but every once and a while looked around to find Malfoy. Both of the boys were looking at their watches every few minutes, and Ron knew that their plan was going to take place on the half hour, he could tell. So he made his way through the crowd, half dancing, and positioning himself between the two offenders so he could better follow them.

And sure enough, at 8:30 sharp, Seamus asked Hermione if she would like some punch. They walked over together, not knowing that Ron was only several feet away.

"Hermione, would you like to go for a little stroll? All this music is pounding in my ears." Seamus asked. He wasn't doing a very good job acting, but Hermione didn't seem to notice. And out they went, on their way to only something bad.

Ron tried to follow them calmly, but making his way through the crowd of dancing teenagers was a dangerous thing to do. Several girls began dancing with him on his way out, but he only glared at them and strutted off to find Hermione. Once he was out of the hall he could barely see Seamus and his date, but could hear the footsteps. So Ron followed the sound and took his shoes off so he would not make any noise.

Seamus had taken Hermione quite a long ways from the great hall and Ron finally noticed where they were; the room of requirement. Ron stayed a few feet back so he was not noticed, but he did want to hear what Seamus asked the room for. But his voice was muffled. Ron couldn't understand how Hermione was just going off into a room with him alone. He had always thought of her as his innocent little bookworm, but she seemed to be falling into the trap too easily.

Ron knew Malfoy was probably already in the room, so he walked up to the wall.

"I need a room to save Hermione from" he repeated three times and the door appeared. Ron took the handle, but it was locked. He leaned against the wall and thought

Meanwhile, inside the room

"Seamus what are we in here fo…Draco! Why are you here?" Hermione seemed all too surprised to see the greasy slimeball.

"Darling Hermione, I thought I had hogged you too long and it's always been a good thing to share so, here you are Draco." Seamus said, slowly but aggressively pushing Hermione towards him. Hermione's face was red and her eyes were glazed. She had a look of absolute confusion on her face, something you rarely saw from her.

"So, since Seamus was so grateful as to share you with me I made some plans of my own" Draco said, picking Hermione up steadily by her shoulders, hoisting her onto a bed. Normally she would have fought back, but she was too confused by all that was happening.

"Hermione, don't look so scared. This isn't all bad. We finally get to bond" he sneered, but Hermione still looked too terrified to talk. As Malfoy's cold grey eyes stared into her's, he slipped his calloused fingers underneath her dress straps.

"B-b-back off Draco" Hermione said, trying not to get herself in a worse situation. But that did just make Malfoy aggravated, and he broke the strap of her dress on one side. He tried being gentle on the other side, but once he had slipped it down to her arm, he just angrily broke that one as well. Hermione began to back herself away, only putting herself towards the middle of the bed that the room seemed to have generously provided.

Draco leaned in to kiss Hermione but she tried to lean back. This left her on her back, which she realized, wasn't too good. Malfoy then positioned himself over her, leaning in towards her face but as soon as she started to scoot away Draco whispered "Incarcerous" This tied Hermione to the bed, helpless.

Seamus was leaning coolly on the wall on the other side of the room, not really caring. Since Malfoy had Hermione where he wanted her he slowly reached for the hem of her dress. He pressed his rough palm on her thigh where the dress was, and slid it up higher, but slowly, slow enough to torture Hermione.

Outside the room

"Damnit, what do I do! God only knows what they're doing to her…..UGH!" Ron thought aloud. But then he thought, it's locked, doesn't mean I can't bust it down.

So Ron went running into the door as hard as he could, and sure enough, the hinges broke and he was in. Draco spun around, still on the bed, and laughed a cold raspy laugh.

"So, the **weasel** has come to rescue his girl. 'Surprised you still came blood traitor, seeing as Granger went and dated your friend. I thought you would have turned your back on her. I guess you think you still have a chance'" And Draco simply turned back to his focus on Hermione. Ron could see that her dress was up high enough to slightly reveal her underwear and he couldn't bear the thought. Poor Hermione couldn't stop Malfoy and he knew Draco had been making this a tedious torture.

Just then Seamus turned to shove Ron out the door but Ron punched him so hard in the stomach the Seamus fell to the floor, hitting his head. Ron walked, half ran, to the bed to get to Hermione.

"Back off Malfoy." But Draco continued to push her dress up further. "Stop it Draco!" Ron said shoving Malfoy, but this made him angry. So Draco reached his hands up closer to Hermione's face, you could see the fear flickering in her eyes, and he grasped the lacy top of her dress, wrenching it down. But before she was completely revealed, Ron had Malfoy up against a wall.

Ron was holding him with one hand, one hand ringing around his neck. He quietly muttered something and Ron slapped him. Malfoy spat at Ron as he looked to check on Hermione. With this Ron took his fist and punched Draco in the nose, pushing his head harder against the granite wall. Ron dropped his hold on Draco and let him fall to the floor.

Ron looked at Hermione. Her dress straps were broken and there were slightly bloody marks from where Draco had scratched her while pulling the dress down. But her dress and body weren't the devastating part. Ron looked at her swollen lips and face coated in tears. He looked Hermione in the eyes and saw the pain, the fear, and all the brave feelings Ron had faded. He didn't know how to take care of this and make her all better.

Ron looked at the unconscious Seamus across the room and then at the space where Malfoy had been. But it was empty. Ron didn't even seem to notice that Draco had fled the scene. He looked back down at Hermione who turned her head away, feeling ashamed. Ron just didn't know how to get magical ropes off. He sat on the bed next to her, lay one finger on her cheek and pulled it down her face. He felt so much anger and pain; he hadn't come in time to spare her all of this. A single tear fell out of Ron's eye, and like magic (hehe) the ropes disappeared. Hermione didn't even seem to notice, but Ron did.

He reached down and picked her up, just like a baby, and ran out of the room towards the Fat Lady. He wasn't even asked for the password, the portrait just opened while quietly speaking "Poor dear, wonder what could've happened?".

Ron just kept running, and took her up to his dormitories. He laid Hermione on his bed and just looked at her for a moment. Her hair had fallen out of it's bun and regained its curliness. Her chocolaty brown eyes had red circles around them, and were glazed over with tears. Hermione looked distraught. Her entire body was trembling. Ron reached towards her to pull a blanket over her and she flinched away.

This tore Ron apart. She was scared of him. He loved her and she was only scared of him. Sadness curled up in his eyes and he almost cried then and there. But he remembered what she had been through, pulled the blanket over her and walked towards the door to leave.

"Ron wait….please" she quietly said, barely loud enough for him to hear. He turned around and just looked at her, pleading for him to come be with her. But Ron went back and sat down next to her. She just cried for a minute, but then Ron noticed she was still shivering and walked a few feet away. Hermione looked at him puzzled, where was he going. E came back towards the bed with a large green shirt in his hands, large enough to fall past Hermione's knees.

"Here, slip this on over your dress. Then you can pull that off. I'm sorry it got ruined" Ron said, trying to comfort her, but still trying to encourage her. The quicker she was in new clothes, the easier it would be to slightly clear her mind. Hermione did exactly as Ron told her to, and then curled up next to him, pulling his arm around her.

"Ron, why me? Why did I think Seamus cared? Why did I fall for all his tricks? I guess he never did love me. Who was I kidding; I just wanted to feel like someone liked me, just for once. But I was wrong, and look where it got me. I'll never trust anyone, how can I? Why does it have to be me?" Hermione said. She spoke very clearly and sounded like she really wanted answers.

Ron looked her in the eyes, but didn't know what to say. Tears pulled up inside him and he had to hide them, she couldn't feel worse. So he pulled her into a tighter hug. But as he did she pushed him off and ran down the stairs into the common room.

This is where chapter 1 started off, but I liked it this way around because I wanted to have the comforting scene first. Tell me what you think PLEASE!


	3. A Not So Rude Awakening

Hermione woke up halfway through the night. She looked around her to figure out where she was. Then looked down to see Ron, sleeping peacefully. His arms were still wrapped around her, and she realized it wasn't all a dream, though she partly wished it had been.

She then remembered the incident with Malfoy and Seamus. Her eyes welled up with tears again, but when she laid her head back down on Ron's chest, she remembered him. How he had come to her rescue and pulverized Malfoy. He picked her up and whisked her away. He made it all better. Bur more importantly, he loved her. He had admitted it to her.

That thought brought Hermione many ideas. She looked up at him, looked at his hair draping over his face. His pale skin dotted by warm freckles. She took one hand and ran it across his jaw line, feeling the stubble from having shaved yesterday. Hermione kept her fingers on his face, tracing up his cheeks and pulling his hair off his face. She then pulled her body up against his and kissed him on the cheek.

How Hermione smiled. _Wow. That felt, well…right._ So Hermione shifted over slightly and kissed him right on the lips. _They're perfect. His lips are perfectly soft and they.._ Thoughts were rushing through her mind. As she was pulling away from the sleeping boy (slowly so as not to wake him) he did end up waking.

"'Mione? You okay?" he asked, very sleepily. But Hermione just looked into his eyes. They were a light aqua, nothing super-natural, but they were just perfect to Hermione. She melted inside before speaking again.

"Ron, thank you. For everything. I'm sorry." She said, those tears coming back in her eyes. But Ron looked into her glassy brown eyes, wondering why she was sad, wondering why she was sorry.

"Sorry? You have nothing to be sorry about. You didn't do anything, it's not your fault." Ron said in a hushed voice, then took her head and lowered it to his chest as if telling her _go back to sleep_, but she propped back up.

"No Ron, I should be sorry. This was my fault. I only went out with Seamus to make you jealous. You never liked me and when Seamus asked me out I thought I could use that to my advantage, I wanted you so badly I was willing to hurt someone else. But my efforts were failing and I felt so guilty. I was going to break it off with Seamus tonight, tell him everything. I couldn't keep doing that to him, and I missed being with you. I would rather have you as only a friend then as nothing at all. I'm sorry Ron." Hermione said, almost all in one breath. She seemed relieved that she said it, but looked worried when Ron said nothing in reply.

"You….you…you did that for m..me?" he stuttered. She nodded, then buried her head in Ron's chest out of embarrassment. He kneeled his head closer to her to smell her hair and hold her closer. He didn't know how to tell her he felt the same. He had done the same thing, he went out with Lavender to get Hermione's attention, but it never seemed to work. He felt so flustered, but needed to say something to her, do something.

So he took the hand around her waist and pulled it up to her chin. He tilted her chin up so she was looking him dead in the eyes. Her eyes looked so perfect, swirling around with emotion like a chocolate whirlpool (wtf. I dono why I typed that) Then he leaned his head in towards hers, still refusing to break eye contact. He couldn't' tell whether she looked scared or confused. But he knew he wanted this now more than ever.

He pulled his face down right in front if her's, so close that you could barely tell where one ended and the other began.

"Hermione, don't you know…" he stopped and kissed her, He still had his arms around her but that didn't matter, he was absorbed in the kiss as was she. He could feel his hair falling back to his eyes but he didn't care. He could feel her heart beat speeding up, he could feel it through his own chest. Then he pulled away, gently, softly, and looked at her again. Her eyes were closed. He took her chin in his hand once more, looking her right in the face, paused his thoughts to soak in all of the feeling he had for her, then spoke once more. "I've always loved you." And kissed her once more on the tip of her nose.

At this she opened her eyes and smiled. He began to slip his head back to the armrest and his hand back to her waist, but she took it in her own. She scooted up a little bit so her neck was perfectly slipped between his head and shoulder. She could smell the nearly faded smell of his cologne, right where he had sprayed it. There was something about the way he smelled, like home. He smelled of cinnamon and the outdoors. Her heartbeat was once more in tune with his, but her breathing steadied to the opposite of his. When his chest rose, her's sank into his. She curled up even closer into him, if possible, and then remembered she was wearing his shirt, and pulled it up to her lips. From there she found that it too smelled like home, and thought how lucky she was to be wearing his shirt.

Ron wasn't sure if he was happy, or upset with himself. Had he gone too far? She was vulnerable; she had been assaulted mere hours ago. But that changed when he felt her breathing in, in the nook of his neck. It wasn't like she was smelling him in a weird way, but he felt glad that she was comfortable in his arms, in his shirt, with him.

So yet again Hermione and Ron fell asleep that night, with a whole new idea to think about. Neither one knew if it was real or not, maybe it had all been a dream, but then again, maybe it wasn't.


End file.
